So I mentioned a little while back that we’re driving from Louisiana to Utah in a few weeks. This is brand new territory for me. I came later in my parents’ lives, way after their cross-country road trip days, so we never really did road trips growing up. When my husband and I were newlyweds, we didn’t really have a reliable enough car for much road-tripping, and then, up until this summer, we’ve always been able to find reasonable airfare within 4-5 hours of us.
Until now.
I’ve been checking airfare since the beginning of the year, but the same flights we took last year would cost us 3-4 times as much this summer. Throw in a car rental and we could seriously take a fully-loaded tropical vacation.
So. We’re driving. And I’ve been trying to figure out how we can keep everybody occupied and happy for 27 hours each way in the car (that doesn’t involve 27 hours of fighting or 27 hours of crying or 27 hours of video games, although, to be completely honest, 27 hours of video games sounds better than 27 hours of fighting.)
So I’ve put together a binder of simple activities to keep my kids at least semi-aware of their surroundings.
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None of them are exactly earth-shattering (although one of my favorite and last memories of my mom is a rather epic round of the license plate game that took months before we finally tracked down Hawaii), but I’ve put them all in one place and used cute fonts. So, you know, the essentials. This is the map I used (it can either be just a reference–I’m having my kids color each state we visit); be sure to check out the whole site–it’s full of ADORABLE printables and activities. Everything else can be found here in this pdf:
Kid’s Road Trip Survival Guide from Our Best Bites
You’re going to need …
- 1 3-Ring Binder per child
- Sheet protectors
- Pencil Pouch
- Various drawing/writing tools (I used pens, washable markers, and colored pencils)
- Scissors
- Glue Sticks
- Postcard stamps (optional—if you want to send postcards to friends or yourself)
- Money for postcards
- Pencil sharpener for colored pencils
- Paper, cardstock, and/or lined paper
- Stickers for the road trip scavenger hunt
- Map of the United States
- Kid’s Road Trip Survival Guide from Our Best Bites
Find a sturdy pencil pouch that has three holes and will fit into a 3-ring binder:
Fill it with a glue stick or two, scissors, postcard stamps, money for postcards, markers (I was able to raid my kids’ school supplies, used and unused),
colored pencils,
pens,
and stickers for the scavenger hunt.
Place the filled pencil bag at the front of the binder.
Place the scavenger hunt, license plate game, map, postcard passport, art gallery, and vacation journal pages in sheet protectors (I put the scavenger hunt on the front and the license plate game on the back of one sheet protector, then put the map opposite the license plate game so my kids could see where different states are on the map.)
After the postcard passport, put several pieces of cardstock so kids can glue the postcards onto it. The Art Gallery goes next, followed by several sheets of plain white paper, then the vacation journal followed by lined paper.
I’ve gotten some awesome tips on road trips so far, but now that I’ve shared these binders, I’m basically begging for your very best tips to keep all of us sane! We’re going to need them!
Questions & Reviews
When our girls were probably 7 & 9, maybe younger, we planned a road trip to Arkansas which is about 11 hours from our home. I went to the Dollar Store and I got an item for each hour on the road per child which totaled 33 items which was $33 for one way. I did this for the round trip. While this may seem like a lot, there were no electronics involved and it was so worth it in the long run. We even ended up with extra items at the end of the trip. The
rules were simple, for every hour that they behaved they got to choose from the grab bag. Each item was wrapped in tissue paper so they didn’t know what they were getting. Most times they had so much fun with the item they chose, they played well into the next hour. That’s how we ended up with extras. Do you remember those colored loops that came with a little mini looms that you would make pot holders from when you were a kid? One item was a bag of loops. They made bracelets and necklaces and played with those four hours it was awesome.
Love this idea! The link to the map isn’t working though ?
where did you get the binder pouch?
Target! 🙂
These look awesome! Definitely something to do when my kids are old enough and we go on long road trips. Good luck on yours!
I read that somebody gets one of those long arm grabber tools, and when the kids drop things, the mom uses it to pick stuff up off the back seat. Totally random, and I haven’t tried it yet, but super cool idea!
I haven’t read the other tips yet, so maybe this has been shared, but what I have learned through trial and error is to not show the kids everything too soon! After a terrible road-trip experience with the kids, the next trip I waaaay over prepared but just gave the kids a free-for-all with all the stuff I brought (there’s no way they can be unhappy with ALL this STUFF, right?!). They were through it all in the first hour and then were asking “what else you got?” Finally, the last trip we did I found the trick – at least for my kids. I had a number of activities planned, but made it a rule to only pull out one activity per hour. That way, the kids had to get creative in how to use the toy or activity to keep them busy for an hour. We would set a timer, and pull out a new activity after 60 minutes had passed. Some of the toys or activities were super simple, and I wasn’t sure how it would work, but once they caught on to the system, they were fine! We would alternate with fun activities together – like listening to/singing road trip songs, and then quiet activities that would give everyone a little break from each other. Checking out some read-along books with CDs from the library was really fun for my kids to either just listen to or follow along with. Good luck!
We’ve been on tons of roadtrips, the most epic of which was a three-week tour of the US (Michigan to Texas to California, and back). Crazy, but so much fun!
Audiobooks are the way to go! I agree with the Roald Dahl series. Our favorite was The BFG. We also loved Harry Potter, Little House on the Prairie, and the most entertaining was the Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. Hilarious! (This may be better suited for slightly older kids). When faced with buying an audiobook for the trip back, I cringed at the $20 price tag. But my husband remarked, “It’s $3 an hour for peace and quiet.” SOLD! This was before we had a DVD player in the car, but it kept my kids quiet.
Also, giving the kids a bunch of pipe cleaners to play with and create with can be fun. You can play Battleship with page protectors and white board markers. We played Scattergories, Apples to Apples dice, and the standard road trip games. I would limit prizes and treats to a couple a day. If you give them too often, they come to expect them on every trip. Instead I’d have a surprise time. I had a bunch of popsicle sticks with different activites written on them (games, dance party, 20 questions, prize from the bag, snack, etc.) I’d pick one and we’d do that. This mixed it up a little.
I did bring magnet boards with lots of little pieces on time. That didn’t work out so well. The pieces went everywhere and were impossible to find again.
And, if you can’t find a park to eat at, find a restaurant with a play place and just let the kids play. You can always buy their food and feed them once you’re back in the car.
We also had our kids change into their pajamas after dinner so they would already be in them when we got to the hotel late that night. That’s when we would turn on the movie for quiet time. One movie per day. Of course, if you want them to fall asleep or quiet down, the LDS Scripture Stories (the book converted to a movie) will do it. The Old Testament worked best. 🙂
Lastly, one source for good ideas is http://www.momsminivan.com. I found tons of simple games and ideas there. Have fun!
We love, love road trips! We got rid of watching movies in our car a while ago and haven’t missed it. The kids fight less and are less whiny without the movies. I love your binder ideas! I am going to use these this summer. I have to suggest the Roald Dahl audiobooks. Penguin books redid the audiobooks a couple years ago and they are awesome!! Kate Winslet read Matilda and her voices are amazing! We have listened to the Fantastic Mr Fox and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Boy. They are all done by talented British actors (Boy was done by Matthew from Downton Abby). The voices they all make are hilarious and even my youngest (4) loved these. Also, have you listened to the Star Wars radio dramas done by NPR? My kids love these. They are really entertaining and different than a normal audio book.
This isn’t breaking news, but audio books have been the best thing ever for our road trips (now 12, 9 and 7 year olds). The time passes quickly for everyone, and we’ve enjoyed all the Little House on the Prairie Books, Anne of Green Gables and some Raoul Dahl (so weird and great!). It’s actually entertaining for the grown-ups as well. 🙂 I love that we can still look around while listening, and even when the youngest was too little to really understand, he enjoyed just listening.
For our kids, taking less stuff (toys, snacks, crayons, art) usually works out better. Just like at home, too many options sometimes just makes them crazy.
Two more things: we had good luck leaving at 5 or so in the morning to get a few hours’ driving in before the kids were very awake, then my husband and I would take turns napping. Also, our kids are obsessed with their meals and snacks, but packing treats usually = grumpier kids, so I just stick with basic fruits, veggies/hummus, string cheese, etc., and everyone is happier. It’s tempting to pack a bunch of fun food, but no one is really happier in the end.